Friendship, Love, and War
by JDLY
Summary: I don't understand why you can't tell me why your leaving." "I realize it's hard, but just trust I'm not going to Orochimaru for power." "I trust you. But I still want to know why." "I can't tell you, it'll ruin everything."
1. Prologue

AUTOR'S NOTE: This is my first story. I know people suggest writing oneshots first before moving on to multi-chapter stories but: one; I have no good ideas for a oneshot; two; I just got out of a writing class and have another one soon; and three; no matter what I do I always think of a was to make it longer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and do not take credit for any scene that is exactly like the magna or show. Sometimes I just like things the way they were.

**NOTICE: I am revising my chapters that I have out right now. This one has been revised.**

* * *

_**Friendship, Love, and War**_

Summery and Prologue

**Summery:** This story will revolve around several ideas. First is this is a love story between Naruto and somebody else, I'm not saying who seeing as I like to have suspense. Two, the situation between Naruto and Sasuke, he does not leave for the same reason but nobody knows that. Three, the situation regarding the Akatsuki. And anything else I want to put in.

**Prologue**

Two figures walked alone on a cobblestone road. One taller than the other. Their pace seemed sluggish but one seemed a little hurried.. There was a slight bounce in his step as if anxious to get to their destination.

"I can't believe we're almost there," said the shorter of the two, almost hopping up and down, "It's been so long."

"Yes, but it's at least another day so you can calm down at least a little," said the taller one. He sounded annoyed at his companion but he couldn't hide his own smile.

"A whole 'nother day!" the short one sighed. He jumped in front of the other with a pleading look in his eyes, "Why don't we just run, we can get there today. It'll be like training."

"Because it's already almost nightfall. I'm getting old and my eyes don't adjust to the dark very well. Plus there's a nice town just ahead with hot springs, "he said with a snicker, "We'll relax there and then get back nice and early in the morning."

"Yeah," the other said while folding his arms and looking away, "I know what you're going to be doing at the hot springs." he mumbled.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama," accompanied a knock at the door.

"Enter," said a blond woman sitting at a desk. There was a rather large amount of paper on it and she just sat there with her head resting on her hand staring at it.

"I've just come to give my report of my last mission," said the girl that had entered.

"A solo, yet just a C-rank. I trust it was easy?" she inquired.

"Yes, almost boring. The village has really quieted down." She looked out the window at the sun setting behind the trees on the horizon.

"Yeah," she said, twisting in her chair to look at the sunset, "after Naruto and Jiraiya left on their trip it was quiet for a while. Until Konohamaru and his friends decided to try and pull off all the pranks Naruto did when he was his age. But even he had trouble keeping up with the variety of pranks. Even as a kid, it seems Naruto had surprising stamina. I wonder how much he'll have changed once he gets back?"

"About that," the girl began, "When is he supposed to be back?"

"I have no clue, Sakura. Jiraiya said two-and-a-half years. It's been three." she said blatantly.

"OK then," Sakura replied, a little saddened. "Well if that's all I should probably go get some rest."

"Yes, you've had a lot of missions lately, even if they were easy ones." Tsunade started, suddenly business-like. "I'm putting you on vacation for a week."

"A whole week! But-" she began.

"Sakura," Tsunade interjected, "you said it yourself, the village is quiet. Your my best medic-nin, I won't have you overworked."

She just gave a small sound of acceptance as she left the room. Closing the door softly behind her.

It was at that moment that a Tsunade heard a small poof behind her and smelt smoke. She quickly twisted her chair back around to her desk only to discover a small toad sitting on it. She hurriedly took the scroll off it's back and pulled it open, almost ripping it. This was the first word from Jiraiya in over a year. Her heart raised a bit and a small smile came over her face as she read it. Soon followed by a larger one as she got an idea. She was gonna have a little fun.


	2. Chapter 1: The Return

AN: In the beginning, some peoples feelings may seemed a little rushed. But don't worry, they will be explained later.

**NOTICE: I am revising my chapters that I have out right now. This one has been revised.**

_**Friendship, Love, and War**_

**Chapter 1: The Return**

Sakura was walking to the Hokage's office. It was rather early in the morning. She was wondering why she had been called in so early After all, just last night, when she got home from a mission, she was put on vacation for a week. But she wasn't one to go whining about little things. Perhaps it was just to discuss something. Either way, she wasn't told to hurry, so she decided to take the long way and enjoy the weather.

* * *

"We're almost there, it should be coming into view soon," said the taller of two men walking along a path. He had a large scroll on his back and long white hair. He seemed a little more exited than he had been the previous day.

"Finally! You took long enough at that hot spring we stayed at last night." the shorter one replied.

"How many times do I have to tell you? It's valuable research!"

"Yeah, well then why did "research" get you punched in the face?" he questioned. He received a look that simply said the other man didn't want to ague about this.

* * *

Sakura eventually got to the Hokage's building. As she looked up she remembered Naruto, the many times he promised he would be Hokage. She grew more anxious, maybe Tsunade had something to tell her about Naruto, she thought. She hurried in and up to the Hokage's office.

"Enter." came the familiar voice when she knocked. "I'm guessing your wondering why I called you here after telling you that you were on vacation."

"A little bit, yeah."

"I just need you to run a little errand for me. Take these documents to the main gate."

"Okay, but may I ask why I'm the one doing this and not another assistant?"

"You'll realize why when you get there. Now go, I told them you'd be there around nine."

"OK." she said with a little confusion, still wondering why she was doing this and not some genin. She left the office and headed toward the main gate once she got out of the building.

* * *

The two men came around a corner in the trail they were on.

"There it is! Konoha!" yelled the blond and took off toward the gate.

"Wait up, Naruto. You don't have to run. Oh... nevermind."

"Come on Ero-sennin! Hurry up!" Naruto shouted to the other man.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" shouted said sage, taking a couple steps after him before stopping, deciding he would rather not attempt to chase a stamina-freak.

As Naruto ran toward the main gate he saw somebody familiar coming towards the gate from the other side.

"_That can't be... Is that Sakura-chan?"_

* * *

"_Is that who I think it is?" _Sakura wondered as she ran towards the gate. Suddenly she felt a rush of emotion as she realized that it was..

The two continued to run towards each other before they realized they were about to hit in a head-on collision. They stopped just in time and for a few seconds just stood there, looking into each other's eyes.

Once again Sakura felt that rush of emotion she didn't know she had for the boy in front of her. Thinking at first that it was because she hadn't seen him in three years. But then she caught herself looking not just at his face, but also his physique.

As for Naruto, this was the best return he could of hoped for. The first person he had seen was Sakura. And he was hoping it would only get better.

Sakura raised a hand and gently put it on Naruto's cheek, as if to make sure she wasn't just hallucinating. This action seemed to shock him so much he didn't move.

"It is really you?" she whispered.

"Well, who else would it be?" he said with a chuckle. In the back of his mind he hoped she would find this funny, even if it was a rather cliché line.

She noticed how low his voice had gotten. But at the moment all she did was nearly throw herself at him to give him a hug. so quickly and forcefully, in fact, that she almost knocked the wind out of him.

"I missed you so much." she said as she herself just realized how much she missed him while he was gone. She felt tears start to roll down her cheeks and into his shoulder. Just then she realized how much taller he had gotten.

"It's okay, I missed you a lot too" he replied, returning the hug.

She held on a little longer, though she didn't know why. She decided it was to make sure he didn't see the tears in her eyes. She wiped them on his shirt before slowly letting go.

"Well if this isn't a pleasant sight." said the Toad Hermit, who had finally reached the gate

This statement caused both of the teenagers to blush. Naruto had expected a nice welcome, maybe not at the main gate seeing as he thought nobody knew he was returning yet, and definitely not the one he got. Not to say he was complaining. He thought it was possibly the best return he could imagine, with the exception of Jiraiya's interruption.

"Well I guess we better go tell Tsunade that your back." said Jiraiya.

"Oh, that reminds me." Sakura suddenly said, using the excuse to turn away and hide her blush. She walked the few feet to the kiosk and handed the packet to the chunin that was sitting there, blushing a little when she realized that they had seen the whole reunion.

"That's fine, " he said, "It's just a blank paper. Tsunade told us she would send you simply to meet Naruto when he got back."

Sakura blushed a little harder. Even though she wasn't sure why. Was she really starting to like Naruto in that way? She turned back around and her inner self thought it wasn't to much of a long shot. Three years had gotten rid of most, if not all of his baby fat. And the new clothes, while still baggy, were not nearly as baggy as his ones years earlier. Then she noticed he had his top unzipped, it was a hot day after all. But that was not what she was concerned with. Underneath his jacket was a black muscle shirt, and boy did it show off what three years of training did. She quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts.

Naruto was having a similar reaction. After all he was sixteen now and noticed a lot more about girls besides them just being girls. And while Sakura's breasts weren't that big, he couldn't help but let his eyes travel to her lovely rear when she turned to the kiosk. Of course he was quick to look up when she started to turn around lest he get caught and get pummeled.

"Well, lets get going.. I don't want Tsunade to get angry," Jiraiya said with a shudder, thinking about what would happen if she got angry at him for making her wait. He began to lead the way and the other two fell in step.

* * *

A knock came at Tsunade's door, and she had a feeling she knew who it was. Her simple, "Enter," was replied by the door opening followed by...

"Hey Baa-chan. How you doing?"

Shizune was walking toward the Hokage's office. She had heard that Naruto had come back from some of the other people in the building and decided to see for herself. Fortunately for her, said blond picked that time to be thrown through a wall by a punch from Tsunade. Also fortunately for her, he flew through the wall several feet in front of her, and not into her.

"Geez," he said. Picking himself up and rubbing his chest a little from where he took the punch. "That almost hurt."

"I told you not to call me that," was the simple answer the Hokage gave.

"And here I was hoping for a nice, "Welcome back" or maybe, "It's been so long." But no I just get punched." he said, putting on his signature pout, while turning around to get the full effect.

"Well it looks like you hoped a little too much," she said, seeming to be in an unpleasant mood. Then she seemed to break down. She walked over to him, still turned around, and gave him bone-crushing hug. When she finally let go she said, "It's good to have you back Baka."

"Ah, thanks Baa-Chan."

Everyone heard her fist clench a little before she relaxed. "Now, Naruto I want you to go home and unpack, and Sakura, go home and rest. I want you both back here at noon."

"Ok," Sakura replied. First she was going to object, wanting to help Naruto. But then she shook that idea out of her head. When was the boy standing next to her suddenly the first thing she thought about?

"Sweet! Is it a mission? Come on, I haven't been on a mission in three years. Please be a mission."

"It's not," said Tsunade dryly.

"What! But-"

"Don't worry, I assure you it will be fun."

"Fine," was the blond's one word response. He wanted to argue but knew it wouldn't get anywhere.

"Okay then. Dismissed."

The two walked out of the room to find Shizune, still slightly stunned that just minutes ago, Naruto came flying out of the wall just in front of her.

"Hello?" Naruto said waving his hand in front of her face.

Shizune shook her head and just started walking towards the office as if nothing had happened.

"Ok...? Well I better get home and unpack. See you at noon Sakura-chan."

"Wait, how are you gonna unpack?" she asked as she noticed something, " You don't have anything."

"Oh yeah, besides training I learned a couple other things from Ero-sennin," he replied taking out a small scroll from his pouch. He unrolled it and on it several things were written. "I learned a few sealing jutsu so I can just carry everything in a scroll."

"Oh..." she said with a look of understanding. She had honestly never thought of that.

"Well I best get going, see ya later Sakura-chan," he said before jumping out a window and onto the roofs.

"See ya," she quickly called after him, hoping he heard.

* * *

Five minutes later found Naruto at his house, and five minutes after that found him laying on his bed, empty scroll on the floor next to it, and his clothes simply shoved into a drawer so it almost closed but not completely. He had a few things on his mind. One being what Tsunade was planning. She said he would have fun, and she knew him well enough that he probably would.

The other thing was Sakura. In all the time he had known her, she had never touched him the way she touched his cheek earlier. She touched it, how could he put it? Tenderly. And then the hug and the crying. It just made him more confused. He said he missed her a lot too, and he meant it. But he had no idea she would miss him enough to cry when he came back. She seemed different than when he left, and not just in physique. Though he didn't deny she was beautiful. More than beautiful even. One look at her and-. No, he was trying to think this out and any thoughts about just her physique weren't helping.

* * *

Sakura was in a similar position. Laying on her bed thinking about Tsunade's plan and Naruto. She hadn't realized how much she missed him until she said it to him. But looking back she was surprised that she had gotten through so many days without hearing his laugh or seeing his smile.

She shook her head again. When did she start thinking of him this much, and in this manner. She couldn't possibly like him in that way could she? Well she did get a good view of his muscled chest thanks to his muscle shirt and his top being unzipped earlier. If she though about it, she was sure the rest of his body would look just as nice-

She shook her head vigorously, quickly grabbing a book and trying to read to preoccupy her mind. She shouldn't be thinking about those things. She was still only sixteen.

But the way she reacted to seeing him for the first time in years. At this point, she wasn't sure about her feelings. As far as she knew it could have just been hormones. She would just have to wait to see how things played out. But for the moment she needed something to preoccupy herself with.

* * *

A clock struck noon as the two remaining students on Team 7 entered the Hokage's office. The large piles of paper were still on her desk but seemed visually smaller, perhaps a side effect of Shizune being there.

"So what was this fun thing you have for us Baa-ch..." he trailed off, not finishing his sentence because of a glare sent by Tsunade.

"Well, I wanted to test how much you've grown, both individually and as a team. So I was going to have you fight somebody. A particular person."

"And who is this person?" questioned Sakura.

"Well it was supposed to be me," answered somebody from behind them.

They both turned around to see Kakashi standing behind them.

"What the- how did- when did you get there?" stammered Naruto,

"Me, I've been here this whole time."

"Regardless of how long he's been standing there." Tsunade started, cutting Naruto off from further questions, "The fact is he just got back from a mission that was a little harder than it was supposed to be. There was an enemy fast enough that he had to use the Sharingan, so he is tired and not at the top of his game. So once he rests up you to will fight him to evaluate your teamwork. But before then I want to evaluate you as individuals."

"Yes, you haven't even told me who they're going to be fighting yet," said Kakashi.

"I had to give some though to it. But in the end the solution was so simple that I almost wanted to hit myself."

"What was it? Who are we gonna fight?" demanded Naruto,getting anxious.

Tsunade was slow to respond, as if building suspense. "You're going to be fighting..."

"Each other."


	3. Chapter 2: The Battle

AN: Okay so I'm not gonna beg for reviews or anything but look at it this way; the more you review, the more input you have in the story. If you tell me what you like about the story and what you don't like then I'm more likely to write a story you like.

**NOTICE: I am revising my chapters that I have out right now. This one has been revised.**

_**Friendship, Love, and War**_

**Chapter 2: The Battle**

**Last Time:**

"_You're going to be fighting..."_

"_Each other."_

* * *

"What! What do you mean fighting each other? Am I gonna have to fight Sakura-chan?"

"That is what I said, baka. You two will fight each other. This will evaluate the both of you as individuals, and maybe give a small insight into your teamwork. However your teamwork will be fully evaluated when the two of you fight Kakashi when he is rested up."

"This is crazy!"

"Now I'm sure the two of you don't want to actually hurt each other, maybe. So I don't expect an all out fight, but I would like to see how much faster you are, and things like that."

"Are you sure we have to do this?" questioned Sakura.

"Yes. I need to evaluate you as soon as possible and this is the best, and most productive way. Plus I'm sure once you start you'll have fun." She joked.

"_I wonder how well Naruto can take a punch. Hopefully well or he's in trouble,_" Sakura thought to herself, letting out a small giggle that went unnoticed by the others.

"_I wonder how much stronger she's gotten. It's been three years after all. Still, I'm fast enough to dodge almost anything."_

"Well this ought to be fun. I wonder if you're good enough to beat Naruto?" said a figure in the window. "We did a lot of training so don't think it will be easy."

"Jiraiya, don't underestimate my student." Tsunade said calmly. "If Naruto isn't careful, he'll be in the hospital for a week."

"Not to insult Sakura-chan, Baa-chan, but I highly doubt that any injury would put me in the hospital more than two days."

"What do you mean, baka," Tsunade said as she stood up at put her hands on the desk. "If I say you'll stay for a week, you'll stay for a week. You wont be escaping as easily as you used to." she finished sternly.

"What he means is that, besides training, we discovered some things about him. Such as why he heals so fast," Jiraiya stated, "And we used those discoveries to make it even better."

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain, seeing as I'm not a medic-nin. It'll just be easier if he does actually get an injury, then you can see for yourself." I'll try explain to while they're fighting so you have some idea of what to look for."

"Fine, but this better be as good as you say it is."

"You'll see what I'm talking about."

"Not that I don't mind not being in the conversation," began Sakura, " but where are we supposed to go for this?"

"How about our training grounds 7. That's where you guys took your bell test, so it should be the most familiar," stated Kakashi.

"That sounds like a good idea. How bout we all go down there." said Jiraiya, trying to get the show on the road.

"You can't, Hokage-sama," said Shizune, walking into the room and immediately joining the conversation, "You have to much work to do."

"I know you mean well Shizune, but it's been three years, simply having somebody else watch and tell me how much he's grown won't be enough. I'll have to watch myself."

"But-"

"Shizune," Tsunade said sharply," I promise that when we get back I'll work hard enough to make up for the lost time." Though she didn't intend on it. Perhaps instead she'd open up a new bottle of sake.

"Well if the conversation is over, let's head out," said Naruto, shocking everybody as they just realized how long he had been quiet for.

* * *

"So how much has Sakura grown?" asked Jiraiya as they were jumping along the roofs to the training grounds.

"I guess you'll just have to see for yourself." Tsunade giggled a little as they arrived at their destination, "How about Naruto?"

"Well lets just say that if it does get serious we'll have to move back a little."

"Strange, I was just about to suggest the same thing about Sakura." Tsunade said with another giggle and a smirk.

"What kind of things did you teach her?" asked Kakashi. Tsunade's giggling didn't seem to bode well for Naruto.

Once again her reply was, "I guess you'll have to see for yourself," she turned to Jiraiya who was watching the two teenagers in front of them, getting into fighting stances, "Let's just say that if Naruto isn't careful he will wind up in the hospital."

"_I wonder how much he's grown?" _thought Sakura before getting cocky and thinking,_"Well, I'll still kick his butt."_

"_I don't want to hurt her. But if I'm too careful then I'll get beaten by a girl." _he thought. _"And if that happens I'll never hear the end of it. Especially from Ero-sennin." _he was too deep in thought to hear Tsunade say "go". _"Or even worse, from Sakur-"_

He was interrupted in his thinking by one of Sakura's fists being embedded into his stomach.

"Did he not hear me say start?" Tsunade wondered allowed as Kakashi and Jiraiya made grunting noises as if they had been the one who had taken the hit.

"That had to hurt," Kakashi commented before seeing Naruto flying off into the distance before being flying into a tree. Which then broke and fell on top of him. "Tsunade, you didn't happen to teach her that superhuman strength of yours did you?" he asked a little apprehensively.

"We had a little extra time and she learns fast so I thought 'Why not'."

"You don't need to worry about Naruto too much," said Jiraiya, "That would of hurt but the chances it injured him are slim to none."

"What are you talking about?" started Tsunade, " That had to at least break a rib."

"Well if it did it won't be broken for long."

Tsunade gave a questioning look before saying, "Wait, you were gonna tell me about his healing."

"Oh yeah. Where should I start. Well... During training we sparred a few times. And besides his amazing stamina I noticed how fast his wounds healed, but what got me thinking was the lack of scarring. You should know as a medic-nin that when the body heals too fast or too slow, without the help of medical ninjutsu, there is usually scarring. So one day after practice I had him purposely cut himself, nothing big, just a small cut on the arm, so I could watch it heal. At first nothing happened, but after ten or fifteen seconds it started to close up at what would be an alarming rate for a person. But, like all his wounds, there was no scar."

"Get to the point."

"Sorry, so I began to think of how demons heal so fast and this is what I came up with: I believe demons heal fast because the cells in any wound act like stem cells, and instead of healing the wound, they actually regenerate the lost tissue. And I think Naruto has inherited this unique way of healing because of the Kyuubi's chakra. Which explains the lack of scarring."

Tsunade's eyebrows raised a little and her mouth gaped slightly. This was certainly an important discovery about Naruto. But Jiraiya wasn't finished.

"And through meditation we managed to get his regeneration ability to respond instantaneously to an injury and heal even faster than it was. So, even if that punch did break a rib, it will be healed before he walks all the way back to Sakura. It even works for bones."

And, just like Jiraiya said, when Naruto had finally got the tree off of him, he simply stood up, pinched himself near his stomach, winced a little as he wiggled his fingers, as if moving his rib back into place, then let go and seemed perfectly fine.

"What about during a battle?" Kakashi asked as Naruto began to walk back toward Sakura. He was still slightly shocked at this information.

"Well throughout the battle, as he gets tired, the injuries stay longer, and any sustained near the end will take a while to heal, due to fatigue, but they are still fast, only slow compared to how fast he normally heals. But at the end of the day it just gets faster. It's like a muscle, the more he regenerates the faster it becomes."

During this entire conversation Naruto was slowly walking back toward Sakura, a smirk on her face. True she was a little surprised that he got up so quickly after taking a direct punch. It seemed she had not heard any part of the other conversation.

"Wow, Sakura-chan, that actually hurt. It's lucky for you I was taken off guard."

This jibe annoyed Sakura a little. And suddenly she was in front of Naruto readying another punch. He dodged that but was hit by a kick into another tree. Lucky for him it was a bigger one and strong enough not to fall on him after the impact.

"_Not only is she stronger, she's faster too." _he thought as he was standing.

"Naruto," Jiraiya yelled, "remember your last bit of training just a couple weeks ago!"

"Oh yeah." he said in such a manner it made Jiraiya slap himself in the forehead.

* * *

_Naruto and Jiraiya were in a large field with nothing around._

"_Ok, before we head home I'm going to teach you one more thing."_

"_Yeah! Something new! What is it? Is it a new jutsu?"_

"_Let me think of an example... Ok remember when you fought Sasuke on the hospital roof?"_

"_Yeah," he replied, remembering it all to well._

"_Well when you called out your clones he disposed of them easily. The same thing happens every time you use clones. The enemy simply disposes of them"_

"_So, whats your point?"_

"_Anyway I'm gonna help you fight like the way other people do when being attacked by all your clones."_

"_I'm already pretty good at Taijutsu, though."_

"_Yes, but this is an easy way for you to get much better. Now lets say you're running through the forest or sitting on a bench. If somebody were to throw a kunai or shuriken at you, you wouldn't even be paying attention when you dodge it. But in a fight you generally attack, then get caught off guard by their counterattack. Do you know what that means?"_

"_Hmmmm... Not really."_

_Jiraiya sighed, "It means your instincts are really good, but when you think too much is when you mess up. So from now on, when your in a fight, I want you to fight with instincts."_

"_How am I supposed to do that?"_

"_Simple, just don't think," Jiraiya said, slipping into a fighting stance._

"_Wait a minute, how am I supposed to-" Naruto tired to say before Jiraiya began to run towards him._

"Shit, here he comes, I need to-"

_Naruto was cut off in his thoughts by a punch from Jiraiya. Followed by a kick._

"_I told you. Don't think." he said as he landed back on the ground._

"_It's not that easy!" Naruto yelled._

"_Then here, how about this," he said, stopping and walking towards Naruto._

"_What?" Naruto asked as he walked closer. Jiraiya grabbed Naruto's headband and pulled it over his eyes, "What's the deal?"_

"_Your sense of sight is how you get most of your information. It's also the sense that gets the most in the way of instinct. Until you can learn to use instinct without a blindfold, you're gonna fight me blindfolded."_

* * *

Naruto took a deep, slow breath, then said, "Well it looks as if I'm actually gonna have to try."

This again annoyed Sakura as a tick went off on the side of her head. She charged at Naruto, intending to beat the pulp out of him. But something was different.

He dodged the first of her attacks, which didn't surprise her. What did surprise her was when he dodged her second, then third, then fourth. All with apparent ease. And then, through the smallest opening even she didn't know she had, he stuck a foot out and tripped her.

As she fell face first into the ground, Naruto jumped back and Tsunade asked Jiraiya, "What kind of training were you referring to?"

"I simply taught him to fight with his instincts, not his mind."

Sakura got up from the ground and faced the boy that was responsible for the dirt on her face,

Nar-u-to!" she growled fiercely.

"Uh-oh." he said as she charged him with more speed. Throwing many more punches and kicks.

"_Shit, she's even faster. All I can do is dodge."_

After dodging a few more punches thrown his way he jumped a large distance away. He pulled up his pant legs to show a black line spiraling around each calf.

"I took a leaf out of Bushy Brow's book." he began to explain. "But I didn't like the large weights so I used seals." He bit each of his thumbs and ran them down his shins, crossing the seals several times. The seals seemed to disintegrate then disappeared completely. "Ah," he said, "That feels good, it's been a while sense I took those off," he said, pulling his pants back down.

Sakura scowled a little. She was already having trouble hitting him and then to find out he was wearing weights. Plus the fact she didn't know how much weight those seals put on. This fight was gonna be harder than she thought.

Suddenly Naruto disappeared, reappearing behind her and aiming a kick towards the back of her right knee. As if to taunt her by knocking her into the dirt again. She brought her right arm back to hit him away but he was gone again. Suddenly in front of her and kicking her left foot out from under her.

"He's almost as fast as that Lee kid now," Jiraiya stated. "Or as fast as Lee was when we left. I can only imagine how much weight Guy is having him wear now."

Sakura caught herself before her face hit the ground and twisted into a handspring, getting a successful kick into Naruto's chest. She smirked a little before Naruto disappeared into a puff of smoke.

"_What? When did he-"_

Another foot came down in an ax kick and hit the back of her legs as she was still in the air. Her body was still straight because of the handspring so all the kick did was send her spinning hilariously in the air until she caught herself several inches from the ground. He was simply taunting her. She quickly jumped up to see him several yards away with a smirk on his face. Oh was he going to get it.

She did several seals before shouting, "Doton: Doryuudan no jutsu."

"What the-" was all Naruto could say before he had to begin dodging the large earthen dragon that suddenly began flowing from the ground.

As for Sakura, a smirk could be seen on her face as she controlled the dragon. Naruto was still dodging all the attacks but it was only a matter of time before one got him.

Naruto dodged a couple more lunges by the dragon before jumping a distance away then running.

Sakura released the jutsu before running after him. "What are you doing? Running away?" she teased.

"Nope, simply moving to a better area," he answered before they both broke through the trees and continued to run until they were standing on a fairly large river that was just beyond the treeline. _"She shouldn't be able to use that earth jutsu on water."_

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi could no longer see them. They all jumped to a new and better vantage point to keep an eye on the fight.

Sakura just smirked as if she knew what Naruto was thinking. She did a few more hand signs and said, "Suiton: Suriyuudan no jutsu." A large water dragon emerged from the river and lunged at Naruto.

"_What the-! Two elements!"_

"Tsunade, when did Sakura learn two elements?" asked Jiraiya.

"I told you. We had time and she learns fast."

"Naruto's in more trouble than I thought," Kakashi said simply.

"If he's still trying not to hurt her than yes he is," Jiraiya replied. After two questioning looks he continued, "He hasn't even used his clones yet except that one he used earlier. Did you really think he was trying his hardest if he hadn't even used his clones."

"Good point," Kakashi replied.

"Anyway, if this keeps up the way it is, Sakura is gonna be out of chakra before Naruto is winded."

"Are you underestimating my student again?" demanded Tsunade, squinting her eyes at the Toad Sage.

"No. I'm simply saying that Naruto's stamina hasn't gotten any worse over three years and he hasn't even used a jutsu yet."

"You'd be surprised at how much Sakura has grown, but for now you're right," she conceded, "And I have enough information on them for now. At least until they fight you, Kakashi."

"Judging from this I'm gonna have my work cut out for me," was his shocked reply. "I thought they would've grown but I didn't know how much."

"Well for now I'm going to stop this," she said before she turned and yelled, "Hey you two! That's enough for now!"

Naruto jumped away from the dragon and stopped. But Sakura seemed not to hear and suddenly kicked Naruto to the ground and readied an ax kick. Naruto moved just enough so the kick didn't land on his chest, but it managed to hit his forearm. There was a sickening crunch that even the three spectators heard a little ways away.

The three adults jumped onto the scene to find Naruto getting up, one of his forearms seeming to have an extra joint the way it was bent. And Sakura was apologizing for not stopping fast enough.

"It'll be fine Sakura-chan," he said touching it a little and wincing, "But it does hurt a little."

"Here, let me-" Tsunade started before he grabbed his own wrist and jerked his own arm back into line. There was another sickening crack and everybody winced at the noise as if it were their arms that were broken and suddenly yanked into place.

Naruto, too, winced a little before moving his hand around, cracking his wrist. "There we go. That's better," he said as if his arm had not been broken ten seconds ago.

"Naruto! WHAT THE-"

"Now you know what I've had to deal with," Jiraiya said, interrupting Sakura.

"What?" Naruto asked Sakura innocently.

"Naruto," began Tsunade sternly, "I want you to report to the hospital immediately."

"Huh, why. I'm fine."

"I don't care. I want to examine that arm to make sure and investigate whatever Jiraiya discovered about your healing abilities."

"What are you talking about?" asked Sakura, still staring at Naruto's arm.

"It's a long story," replied Naruto.

"Well you can tell her after I've examined you. As of now everybody to the hospital," Tsunade ordered thinking, _"Naruto, you just get more confusing every time I see you. Let's figure this out."_

* * *

AN: I gave Sakura two elements for a couple reasons:

1. There is a big debate as to whether or not she is water or earth. This is so nobody can complain that much. Some say she doesn't have one. If I remember correctly every shinobi has one, maybe she just hasn't taken the time to figure out hers yet.

2. Again if I remember correctly Kakashi once says "Jounin's typically have two" (when teaching Naruto his wind element) and I think Sakura is skilled enough to have two. (at this point she is a chunin, I just haven't said that yet)

Remember, you're input on the story depends on you reviewing. If you don't like her having two elements you'll have to tell me so I can change it. If you don't like it and don't tell me I'll never know.

So if you want input- review.


	4. Chapter 3: The Analysis

AN: Okay so at first I always wondered why author's were always asking people to review so much. But now that I have started writing I realize why. I enjoy writing, and I'll probably continue this story either way. But it is really nice to know if your work is appreciated by others. On the last chapter I got a review that was one word. "awesome" by shyguy1818. And no matter how short it is it is appreciated. It lets me know that he liked it the way it was. Thanks you shyguy1818.

Trust me when I say I _**guarantee **_that if you review, you _**will**_ have input on the story and you _**will**_ enjoy it a lot more in the long run. Even if it is just one or two words. Sorry if this distracted you from the story.

P.S. I don't think this is one of my best chapters, but then I don't have many yet.

And one more thing I've been forgetting to do- Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

_**Friendship, Love, and War**_

**Chapter 3: The Analysis**

"I don't really understand what you need to do," complained Naruto as they made their way to the hospital.

"I've already told you. I want to examine that arm and investigate your healing abilities. And, if there is time, give you a full physical," replied an irate Tsunade. She didn't like being interrupted when thinking about a case as curious as Naruto's. And his constant questions didn't help.

"My arm is fine."

"Knowing you it probably is, but I still want to check."

"Just listen to her Naruto," Sakura added to the conversation.

"Ahhh.... Sakura-chan.... Why do you have to take her side?" said Naruto, with his trademark whine.

"Well, one, because she is the Hokage. And two, I've been her apprentice for three years."

"What!" Naruto exclaimed, followed by a mumbled, "So that's where you got that herculean strength."

Unfortunately, he didn't mumble soft enough to not be heard by the pink haired kunoichi. "What did you call me!" she shouted. She brought a fist down to the back of his head that sent him spiraling into the street below. A few villagers fled from the plume of dust that had resulted from the impact.

Once again, Jiraiya and Kakashi groaned as if it had been them who had taken the hit. Tsunade, however, just chuckled and said, "Well, there's another injury I can examine."

* * *

"Naruto! Sit still," Tsunade said through clenched teeth.

"But I haven't even had any Ichiraku ramen yet."

"Sit still or I'm gonna strap you to this bed, and I'll make sure you don't get ramen for a week," added Sakura.

If anything ever got Naruto to sit still, it was the treat of no ramen. "Fine," he answered.

"Finally," said Tsunade. "I can finally get a good look at your arm."

She focused her chakra as she held her hands over his arm. This required extreme chakra control. If done right her chakra could "scan" his body, and, when returning to her, give her an image of the bone and muscle tissues. This time there was something different though. It was as if Naruto's skin and muscles were denser than a normal persons, she wasn't able to get a clear picture of his bone at the moment. She focused her chakra more. Focusing more on visualizing the bone. She finally got a visual of it and let out a little gasp.

"What is it?" asked Sakura, "Is it still broken?"

"No. That's the shocking part. It seems perfectly fine. And beyond that it is extremely dense. It wouldn't have been broken if you hadn't focused your chakra into that kick."

This time it was Sakura's turn to gasp. She was shocked and slightly confused at that. Her kick was well placed, and Naruto's arm also happened to be on a rock when she kicked it. Even without focusing her chakra it would have broken. Yet Tsunade said it wouldn't have.

"Now do you get what I told you?" asked Jiraiya from a corner of the room.

"Almost," Tsunade replied. She focused chakra in her right hand and brought it down in a quick stroke past Naruto's arm. A moderate sized cut opened up. About two inches long and half an inch deep. Nothing a medical ninjutsu wouldn't take care of easily.

"Hokage-sama!" Sakura said, shocked.

"Quiet!" Tsunade answered sternly. Her hand was held over the wound she just made and she was focusing her chakra, but it lacked the normal green glow of a medical ninjutsu. Everybody watched in anticipation. Without so much as a second of time passing sense she made the wound, it slowly seemed to close itself up. And after a couple more seconds the tissue seemed to glue itself back together, not even leaving a line where the cut was.

Everybody looked at his arm in shock, not quite believing what they saw until Jiraiya, still in the corner, said, "Well, can you tell me what's going on. What I said was just my best guess."

"Wow, Naruto. That was amazing!" Sakura said to the boy.

Said boy was still laying still, eyes closed, thinking about the ramen threat and how he would go without ramen for a week. However, he heard Sakura's statement, opened his eyes and looked at her, "Huh? What was amazing?"

"You mean you didn't realize Tsunade-sama just cut your arm open?" she said incredulously.

Naruto quickly looked at his arm before comically yelling in Tsunade's direction, "What! What are you doing cutting me open you crazy old lady!"

Surprisingly, Tsunade did not react to this last statement, still absorbed by her thoughts about what just happened. "Well it seems you were right, Jiraiya. Any cell that gets exposed to the air reacts like a stem cell."

"Heh," he said triumphantly, "I knew I was right."

"Surprisingly, yes. But stop overestimating yourself. For now I want to look more into this regeneration. Naruto is going to have a full physical."

"Tsunade-sama," said Shizune, bursting through the door, "We have an urgent message in your office."

"Damn it. Well it seems like I have to go take care of something. Sakura."

"Hai"

"I trust you well enough to take in and write down every detail. So, seeing as I can' t do it myself, you're going to give Naruto a full physical. I expect a report with every detail." she finished before hurrying out of the room.

"Wait, what?" Sakura stammered as the Hokage left the room. "Me? Give Naruto.... A physical?"

And while she was slightly stunned Inner Sakura decided to enter the conversation, **"Holy shit. We get to see Naruto.... Shirtless! Woo Hoo!"** she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"_What the- Wait a minute- Stop it. I don't need your "help" right now!"_ she screamed at her inner self, starting to turn red.

Naruto was having similar thought only his weren't quite as 'to himself'' as Sakura's were. "Wait a sec. Sakura-chan is going to give me a physical. But that means-" His face turned beat red and he took a rather large gulp. Silencing himself for the time being. Luckily, Sakura was too preoccupied with her inner self to take notice at the moment.

"Well, I guess we better get out of here." Jiraiya said to Kakashi. Showing him the way to the door.

They left leaving Naruto and Sakura the only two in the room before they realized it. Sakura was the first to speak.

"Well if I'm gonna give you a physical then you're gonna have to sit up." She said before going over to a cabinet with clipboards and paper in it.

"What- huh. Oh... um... okay." he said tentatively before sitting up in the bed. He was still a little confused as to what was going on.

"Open your mouth and say ahh."

He did as he was told. She then looked in his ears, nose, and eyes like any normal physical, writing down things on the clipboard as she went along.

"Okay, your gonna have to take off your shirt now." she said while writing something down, facing the other direction.

He was a little nervous, but he did as he was told. "I'm ready Sakura-chan."

"Okay, I'm gonna use this stethoscope to see how healthy your heart and lungs-"

She didn't finish the sentence because that was when she turned around and Inner Sakura put in her two cents, **"Hot damn. Look at that body!"**

"_Shut up. Shut up shut up shut up!"  
_

"Sakura-chan, are you okay.? You're turning a little red."

"What? Yeah, I'm fine." she stuttered, continuing on with the physical. Perhaps letting her hands stay on his chest a little longer than necessary. She couldn't help it! She was a fifteen year old girl with hormones running crazy! And after examining him a little more for abnormalities, aka running her hands along his chest and back. She wrote down a few more things and announced that the physical was over.

"Don't tell me doc," he said in a humorous tone, "Am I going to die? How long do I have?" he said, playing the joke a little more.

"Well, according to me, your in perfect health. And not just good enough to call it perfect, but actual perfect. Although, with you, it's hard to get surprised anymore."

He wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not. He decided it was and then followed Sakura out of the room.

"Why are you going to the Hokage's office?" she asked.

"I want to see when's the soonest time I can get a mission. And not just a boring one, but an actual mission."

"Probably not long. We're short on chunin and jounin right now. Wait, you're still a genin aren't you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well," she didn't want to upset him to much but there was really no way around it, "Everyone else in our class is at least a chunin. Neji, Kankuro, and Temari are jounin."

"What! What about Gaara?"

"Well, he's the Kazekage." she said rather meekly, hoping that this information wouldn't upset him to much.

He stopped. "I see. Well.... I won't be outdone. Now, even more so than ever, I have to become the Hokage."

Sakura's chest felt a little light after he said that. There was something different about Naruto. Yet he hadn't changed at all. He was still the same goofy unpredictable knucklehead ninja that he always was. But somehow he was all that in a more mature way. This confused her to no end and eventually she just continued to walk towards the Hokage's office, Naruto falling in step behind her.

* * *

Naruto knocked on the door. Sakura found even this strange because he would normally just break it down. "Why are you knocking, Naruto?"

"There's somebody already in there."

"What? How can you tell?"

"I can hear them. They are whispering, though, so I don't know exactly what they are saying. Wait. Ones coming to the door."

The door opened and Kakashi was standing on the other side. "Ah, hello. We were just talking about you two." he said in his nonchalant manner.

"What about us?" Naruto demanded as Kakashi moved to the side to let them in.

"Oh, not much. Mainly about how much you've grown and possible strategies I could take when I fight the two of you."

"You're going down." Kakashi-sensei.

"Don't get to full of yourself. I wont loose that easily."

"Neither will I. Do you think I showed my full potential in that fight. I didn't want to hurt Sakura-chan."

"Hey! Don't start thinking you could beat me that easily!" yelled Sakura, "I was barely trying."

"Sorry." Naruto said quickly as he flinched.

"Anyway, why did you two come up here." said Tsunade, entering the conversation.

"Well I came up to give you this." Sakura said, handing her report to the Hokage.

"And I want to know if there are any cool missions I could have?" Naruto blurted out like his normal self.

"No." was Tsunade's one word answer.

"What! Why not?" Naruto whined.

"You just got back from a long journey. You just got done with a fight. You still need to fight Kakashi. And because I said so."

"Come on." he pleaded..

"No!" she yelled.

He fell silent. Normally enough pleading and whining would get her to change her mind, but she seemed rather determined this time. And she had several reasons. He would never give up in a fight but in this argument, he knew it was futile.

"Now you're all dismissed. You two will fight Kakashi either tomorrow or the day after. Until then I want you to rest up. That means you to, Naruto."

"Fine," he responded. He felt rather down until an idea popped into his head. "I'm gonna go eat at Ichirakus!" he exclaimed before bolting out the door. Leaving everybody else in the room.

Sakura sighed. Naruto may have changed a little, but he didn't change that much.

* * *

"Hey old man. Gimme one of everything." Naruto said as he walked under the flaps.

The man at the stove froze. "Could that be who I think it is?" he said before turning around slowly. "Ah. It is. I'll tell you what. I've got a few new recipes. So I'll give you all of the old flavors half-off, then I'll let you try the new ones for free."

Naruto had to pick his jaw up off of the table. "Are- are you s-serious?"

"Well what am I supposed to do when my number one customer comes back after a three year absence? Once you left I lost quite a bit of profit. I still had more than enough. But I couldn't buy all the extra little things I had gotten used to."

"Don't worry, I plan on eating enough ramen to make up for those three years." he said with a boyish grin.

"Not to much now, though." said Ayame. "If you gain to much weight you won't do as well on your missions."

"Don't worry about that either. I'm gonna train even harder now that I'm back in the village. I've got to get stronger." then a though hit him. "And I've got to take the chunin exams so everybody else can't hold it over my head!"

"Hey, if it isn't Naruto. How have you been. I heard you're still a genin." said Kiba, entering and taking advantage of Naruto's previous comment to annoy him a little.

Naruto just glared at him. "Heh. I can still beat you. I beat you three years ago, and with how much I've grown it'd be easy now."

Kiba gave a low growl, "Don' think I'd let you win, besides, three years ago was just luck!"

"Yeah, you just keep saying that." Naruto replied, annoying Kiba even more.

"You haven't changed at all have you!" he yelled back, "You're still as annoying as you were back then!"

A thought came to Naruto. "Hey where are your teammates? Aren't you usually with them?"

"There on a mission." he said a little grumpily. "I wasn't allowed to go because reports say the enemy uses the opponent's sense of smell against them."

Naruto cracked a smile. "Ha, just like at the chunin exams!"

"Why you little-" said Kiba before chasing Naruto out of the restaurant.

"Hmmph. He didn't even get to eat his ramen."

"Don't worry Dad, I'm sure he'll be back once he realizes that."

* * *

Several minutes later and several streets away, Naruto had finally lost Kiba by running through a perfume and cologne store. Sure he wasn't as good as Shikamaru or most of the others in his class, but he could use little strategies. "Crap, I forgot my ramen!"

* * *

It was later that night. Naruto was home after he had his fill of ramen. He was laying down on his couch thinking about things. His mind wondered to the conversation with Kiba about the chunin exams, and that reminded him of Sasuke. He didn't think about Sasuke as much as he used to, being preoccupied with his training. However he did sometimes, and it was usually about one particular encounter.

* * *

_He and Sasuke were at The Valley of the End. They had just launched their Rasengan and Chidori at each other and they both looked ready to collapse._

"_I didn't plan on telling anybody. But it looks like I don't have a choice. Naruto, I'm not going to Orochimaru for power. But I can't tell you why I'm actually leaving."_

"_I don't understand why you can't tell me why you're leaving."_

"_I realize it's hard, but just trust that I'm not going to Orochimaru for power."_

"_I trust you. But I still want to know why."_

"_I can't tell you, it'll ruin everything."

* * *

_

Remember. If you want input- review review review.


	5. Chapter 4: The Test

Thanks to the one person who reviewed the last chapter. Don't know who it was because it was anonymous.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

_**Friendship, Love, and War**_

**Chapter 4: The Test**

Naruto awoke from a dream. It was a really nice dream. Orochimaru was dead, Sasuke was back and happy, and Sakura had agreed to go out with him. But all good dreams must come to an end. And he was reminded of that when he woke to somebody pounding on his door. He lazily got up and walked out of his bedroom to the door. Who was getting him up at this hour? He opened the door to see his own sensei. He was standing on the other side of the door with his nose in one of his books. By the look of it he had just started it so Naruto guessed it was either a new one or he was simply reading one over again.

"Hey, sensei. What are you doing here so early?" Naruto managed to slur out.

"Huh? What do you mean early? It's 10:00 Oh yeah, I came here to get you..Anyway, today's the day you and Sakura are going to fight me to test your strength."

Suddenly Naruto was completely awake. He rushed back into his apartment to get ready. He really wanted to fight Kakashi and now was his chance. He swore to himself that he and Sakura would beat him. _"Wait, is it going to be a fight, or like the bell test that we took three years ago? Oh well, it doesn't matter." _he decided. Either way they would win. When he was ready he went back to the door. Kakashi was already several pages father than Naruto had seen him a couple minutes ago.

"Ready? Ok, let's get going. I was told to get you and we'll all meet at the training grounds."

"_Now's my chance to really show how much I've grown!"_

_

* * *

_

When everybody had arrived at the training grounds, including Tsunade and Jiraiya, there wasn't much of a delay before the three members of Team 7 were ready to fight. Naruto was about to get into a fighting stance before Kakashi interrupted.

"Hold on, Naruto. I haven't even explained the test yet." he said.

"Test? I was hoping we were just going to fight." Naruto replied. He was counting on using some of his best moves.

"Don't worry, it's still pretty much a fight." Kakashi answered before pulling out two bells. "You have until sunrise tomorrow to take these bells away from me. Come at me-"

"With intent to kill."

"Or you'll never get them." the other two finished.

"Correct. Now get ready. Go!" he shouted before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Huh?" started Naruto. "Damn it. Where did he go?" He said as he tried to focus his chakra and began to try and sense the Copy-nin's chakra. But Sakura beat him to the punch. Literally.

She began to search the minute he disappeared in the smoke and by the time Naruto had almost found him, she had already buried her hand into the ground. Knocking Naruto to the ground and revealing their sensei.

"_Holy shit! I knew she was strong, but not that strong!"_ thought Naruto as he got up from the ground.

Kakashi quickly jumped out of the hole and landed several meters away from them. _"Looks like I'm gonna have to get serious."_ He thought before lifting up his headband to reveal his sharingan.

"Looks like it's my turn!" yelled Naruto before charging Kakashi. He leaped into the air, and kicked towards Kakashi's head. Kakashi simply grabbed his foot with the intention of throwing him into a tree. But before he could start spinning him, Naruto bent his leg, pulling himself towards Kakashi readying another kick with his other leg. Kakashi caught this one as well, but then Naruto put both hands on the ground, bent both legs and kicked towards Kakashi's head again. Kakashi quickly ducked and this provided him with the opening he needed to get a good punch directly into Naruto's gut. He was slightly surprised when Naruto disappeared with a puff of smoke. He didn't know Naruto's clones could fight this well, but of course this was one of his signature jutsu.

He suddenly sensed something to his left and ducked before another Naruto could land a punch to the side of his head. The Naruto flipped over him before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The clone dispersing without being hit was enough of a distraction that Sakura, who was suddenly in front of him, got a good, chakra enhanced punch into his chest. Both students were dismayed to see their sensei turn into a log.

Naruto walked towards Sakura out from behind a rock. "Looks like he disappeared again."

"What were you doing behind that rock? Hiding?" she teased.

"Hey, that's mean. I was making sure he didn't realize the first one was a clone."

"Well taijutsu isn't working because of his sharingan. My jutsu aren't worth much because he's seen them all and probably has a counter."

"Well I've got a few jutsu, and a couple of new techniques. They might be worth a shot."

"Well first we need a strategy."

* * *

Tsunade and Jiraiya were a little ways away in the trees. They were both looking in awe at each other's students They had no idea how much the other's would grow.

* * *

Kakashi was in a tree just out of the range for the two to sense him via chakra. "This is gonna be harder than I thought. I already saw them fight but they are on a whole different level than yesterday. Plus, while they've been away for three years, their teamwork isn't too shabby." For now he would simply stay out of range until he could formulate a good enough plan. He smelt them on the wind. They were getting closer. He leaped off the tree and into a clearing.

Suddenly, Naruto was upon him. He did a quick handspring to launch him into the air. He launched several shuriken at him. Naruto quickly made a clone that grabbed him and moved him out of the path of the weapons.

"Sensei!" yelled Sakura from behind him, causing him to glance away from Naruto for a moment. Sakura wasn't there and he looked back at Naruto. One of them, he assumed the clone, had transformed into a large shuriken and was thrown at him by the other. He didn't have to move much to avoid it. But his flaw in thinking became apparent when the Naruto still in the air disappeared at the same time that the shuriken flying past him tuned back into the real Naruto, with a leg about to hit his face.

Kakashi had no choice bet to take the hit. However, he used the momentum from that hit to roll back onto his feet, and potentially avoid another attack by the hidden Sakura. When he landed he looked up and saw Naruto, who happened to be laughing. He quickly looked at his belt only to find that both bells were still there.

"No, I didn't have that good of an opportunity. But I got you good, Kakashi-sensei." he laughed.

And indeed he had. "Ah, I see that yell from Sakura was just a distraction so I wouldn't notice that you changed into the shuriken, and not your clone."

"Almost," Naruto said, but not from the one in front of him. Partially because it chose that moment to disappear in a puff of smoke. He quickly turned around just in time to dodge a rasengan aimed towards his stomach.

"_So they were clones the whole time. Including that one."_ he concluded as the one holding the rasengan also disappeared into a puff of smoke.

* * *

It was several hours later. Kakashi managing to stay just enough ahead of his two students to avoid fighting. He suddenly jumped over a branch that would have been his next foothold in the trees. He landed on the next branch as the one behind him was blown off by and explosion from a kunai with a paper bomb.

"So you've caught up." he said. He didn't know where they were. But he could sense that they were close.

"It really wasn't that hard. I simply made two clones to represent us if you were sensing us and then we surpressed our chakra and followed faster to catch up."

Once again, Kakashi was surprised at how much Naruto had grown. He didn't just charge at the enemy anymore. He made and used strategies. While not planning ahead several hundred moves like Shikamaru, his plans were usually effective. Yet he had not lost the ability to think on his feet.

"So, are you ready to fight?" Naruto questioned as he slipped into a fighting stance.

"Yes, but I'm obviously not fighting you." he answered before jumping to another branch behind him as Sakura came up through the branch he had just been standing on. Naruto said they had both surpressed their chakra. And seeing that she wasn't in sight, he always listened carefully as to find out which way she was coming from.

"Damn," he heard Naruto curse as Sakura's attack missed him. He jumped away from the next one as well. And before Naruto and Sakura could double up on him, he used a quick technique to teleport away.

* * *

Kakashi was in a clearing resting. It had been hours sense that little fight and there had been a few more. There were still a couple hours before sun-up and he was getting rather tired from using his sharingan so much.

"That sharingan really gets old," Naruto complained as he and Sakura hid in a bus beside the clearing.

Kakashi had stopped and sat down. It seemed the two of them had suppressed their chakra enough not to be sensed.

"Were going to have to take him by surprise. Something that will make him stop moving long enough for whoever isn't distracting him to get the bells." Sakura said.

Then an idea struck Naruto, and he slapped himself in the forehead for not thinking of it sooner. "I think I've got a way to get the bells. But I don't think you'll like it."

"Well what is it?"

"I don't really want to say, you'll hit me."

"Well if you're sure it'll work just go try it. If it doesn't I'll be here thinking of a plan."

"Ok, if you say so. Just be ready to take the bells when he drops his guard. You'll know when. But you have to remember to do it and not be busy punching me." he finished before jumping away.

That left her a little confused, but she doubted it would work anyway.

* * *

In the clearing, Kakashi was resting a little until he felt Naruto's chakra behind him. He quickly got up and turned around to see the knucklehead ninja with his hands in a familiar cross.

"Hey, Kakashi sensei." was all he said before he snickered and said, "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu." Then the clearing was suddenly filled with several hundred Narutos.

Kakashi slipped into a fighting stance. But then all the Narutos gave a wicked grin, made another seal, and said, "Harem no jutsu." The several hundred Narutos suddenly turned into several hundred beautiful young blond naked women. Leaving Kakashi stunned.

Sakura was just about to let out a fierce yell and go out into the field to beat up each and every Naruto until she realized this was the moment Naruto was talking about when the Copy-nin would let his guard down. And indeed he did. He was standing there, slightly hunched over, arms hanging slack at his sides, and with a rather large nosebleed. If there was any time he let his guard down, this was it. She quickly ran out from behind the bushes, swiftly and quietly past their sensei, grabbing the bells on the way, he didn't even seem to notice, much less move, and then stopped next to Naruto.

Suddenly, all the female Narutos disappeared in smoke. Kakashi quickly shook his head and saw his two students in front of him. He almost got into a fighting stance before he realized what both of them were holding.

"Well, it seems you to won this time. With a little time to spare. I honestly wasn't expecting that kind of jutsu."

"That's what I thought. That's why I used it." suddenly he received a painful hit to the back of his head. "Ow, Sakura-chan. What was that for?"

"Don't ever use that jutsu in front of me again unless you tell me your going to first." she said in an authoritative manner.

"Sorry, but it was the best bet for beating Kakashi-sensei." he whined.

Tsunade and Jiraiya landed next to the group of three. "Geez, Kakashi. I didn't think you'd fall for that one." Jiraiya said, but if you looked closely enough you could see a little trail of blood underneath his nose that he had attempted to rub off, and also a small bump on his head where Naruto guessed Tsunade had hit him because of his reaction to his jutsu.

"Good work, Naruto, Sakura. I'm very pleased that you passed this test." Tsunade said in a formal tone.

"Yes," Kakashi continued. "As of now, we are no longer Team 7. We are Team Kakashi."

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled as he pumped his fists into the air. "This means I'll be able to go on missions soon!"

"Slow down," Jiraiya started, "I have some new ideas for your training, but I'm gonna have to discuss these ideas with Kakashi first. As for now, how bout we go to Ichiraku's and get some ramen to celebrate. My treat."

"Wait. Ramen for breakfast?" Sakura commented.

"Fine, we'll meet there for dinner." answered Jiraiya.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Naruto yelled, then he turned to Sakura and asked, "Do you want to come with us, Sakura-chan?"

She thought about it a little. She had a few chores to do at home but they could wait. She just wanted to spend time with her teammates, that is if Kakashi were coming. But she was fine just going with Naruto, and she supposed she could tolerate the pervert sage as long as he was paying. "Sure, I can come along."

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled once again, though this time it wasn't quite as loud as the first.

"Well I guess I'll go as well, seeing as this has become a team thing." Kakashi decided.

"What the heck? I'll go too." said Tsunade as she fell into step behind the newly formed Team Kakashi which had already started walking.

The only one left behind was Jiraiya, who grumbled, "I wouldn't have said 'My treat' if I knew everybody was going." But it seemed that he had no choice as he took long strides to catch up with the others.

* * *

It was dinner time and they all sat at Ichiraku's. Jiraiya sat between Tsunade and Kakashi. Talking about the Atatsuki to the blond and Naruto's training to the other. On the other side of Kakashi sat Naruto, and on his other side sat Sakura.

It was while they ate that Sakura noticed something else that had changed about Naruto. While he still ate fast, he was more civilized than he used to be when she had seen him eat ramen. He didn't slurp up the noodles like he used to, he still did a little though. She finally realized that she had been watching him eat for quite a while when he ordered his second bowl and she hadn't already started her first. She quickly snapped out of it. She was seriously confused, sense when did she watch Naruto eat. Her thinking was interrupted by Kakashi finishing his conversation with Jiraiya and turning to talk to Naruto.

"So, I hear that you had some tough training while you were on your trip."

"Tough?" Naruto answered, "That ero-sennin tried to kill me."

"I think that's exaggerating just a little." Kakashi responded, "Now that your back I'm gonna work you twice as hard. But that comes later. I still haven't though of a good enough way to do the training though."

"Don't worry," Jiraiya put in. "While Naruto doesn't understand theories. He learns fast. And if that doesn't work, all you have to do is throw him over a cliff. I did once." he deadpanned.

The three who didn't know this made fell over anime style as Naruto just jumped up on the chair and shouted, "I remember that. I should get you back for that!"

"Naruto, sit down and eat." the toad hermit said as another bowl was placed in front of Naruto. He sat down quickly and tore into the bowl, eating vigorously. Sakura looked but as soon as she did she decided that it wasn't nearly as good as watching him eat while being civilized. At least that's what she decided before she shook that idea out of her head again.

A little while, and several bowls later, everybody was done. They all seemed to have things to do. Tsunade had to leave to take care of a few things in the Hokage office before going home. Jiraiya left to do research, though everybody knew what that meant. And Kakashi needed to go to a ninja supplies store to buy a few more kunai to replace the ones he had used in the battle and his previous mission. This left Naruto and Sakura the only ones left at the restaurant. And, though neither of them knew it, the other wasn't complaining.

Everybody had been done for a while and Kakashi had just left. Naruto took a rather large gulp and asked tentatively, "Ummm... Sakura-chan... Would you like me to walk you home?"

"Sure that's be nice." she answered before she knew what she had said. But after thinking she decided it was nice to be asked if she wanted an escort home.

Naruto was a little shocked at her answer, but responded quietly with, "Ok. Umm... Are you ready to leave now?"

"Yeah, let's get going."

He help open the little flap as they walked out of the shop. Truth be told, Naruto was extremely gentleman-like when he wanted to be. And Sakura noticed this as well. They started their walk towards her house and walked slowly. Walking silently but each enjoying the other's company. It was a long while before they reached her house, but at the same time, seemed not to be long enough.

While the walk had been silent it had been enjoyed by both. And when they walked up to her door, neither was disappointed. When they reached the door, she turned around and was captured by the beauty of his eyes. They were such a shade of blue. She cleared her head long enough to say goodnight, to which he responded with a "Goodnight to you too. Thanks for letting me walk you home."

He wanted to say something better than that, but as he tried to think, his thought came up blank.

"No, thank you for walking me home." she responded, slightly nervously as an idea came in her head. She began to bring her arms up hesitantly, then stepped close and gave Naruto a hug. It was then that she, again, realized that he was taller than her now. The hug lingered a bit, enjoyed by both. But eventually they broke apart as Sakura stepped towards the door. She opened the door and gave one more quiet goodnight to him. He responded goodnight in the same quiet tone. She closed the door. Naruto slowly turned away from the door. He walked down the path to the road and headed towards his apartment. He had a feeling that he would sleep really good tonight.

* * *

Wooo! Another chapter. A little fighting, a little comedy, and a little romance. What more can you ask for. If you can ask for more you should** review **and tell me.

I, personally, liked the end of the chapter the best. But you should **review** and tell me your favorite part, and what you liked and didn't like overall.

Remember: If you want input- **Review**


	6. Chapter 5: The Training

Thank you to the two who reviewed the last chapter.

Nemo2002: I've got an idea for jutsu, and I hope people will like it.

Moldock: If by character bashing you mean continually putting down a certain character, then no, I won't do that.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

_**Friendship, Love, and War**_

**Chapter 4: The Training**

Sometimes Tsunade resented being the Hokage. There was so much paper work. There were political duties. There were annoying letters. There were mission reports to file. And, occasionally, there was a certain toad sage entering your office through the window.

"I've told you, the door's not broken. You _can _ use it."

"Yeah, but that's not my style." he responded.

"And what would that be?"

"You should know, seeing as you've known me all my life."

"Yeah, your style is perverted.."

Jiraiya's head drooped. "That's all you think of me?"

"No, that's just the main thing I think about you.. So to what do I owe this pleasure of seeing you this fine morning?" she mocked.

"Wait. What else do you think of me?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing." she insisted, her face starting to warm up. "What did you come here for?" she asked, busy with paperwork and not wanting to be interrupted unless it was very important.

"Not much, just to talk a little more about Naruto." he said nonchalantly.

"Is there something you want to tell me that I didn't get to see yesterday?" she questioned, quite interested now.

"Actually yes. It's about his jutsu." he answered.

"Did he learn any new jutsu?"

"Well.... Yes and no." he said tentatively.

"What do you mean?"

"You see.... Um.... Well, it'd just be easier to tell you if I tell the story from his point of view.

* * *

_Naruto was on his training trip with Jiraiya. It had been about two years sense they had left Konoha. Jiraiya, like usual, had given him some stupid task and ran off to do "research". This time he had been told, for the thousandth time, that his chakra control wasn't good enough and to meditate. Which is the reason he was sitting in the shade underneath a rather large tree._

_He had already been sitting there for a couple hours. He wasn't to focused meditating, he was too busy complaining about the ero-sennin. But then something odd happened. He was suddenly pulled away from reality, to where, he wasn't sure.

* * *

_

_He was standing in what looked like a sewer, with water up to his ankles. He knew this place, it was his mind. He thought it rather odd that, for somebody that was usually bouncing off the walls, his mind was a sewer. Yet he didn't think on that too long. His mind was on why he was here. He had an idea as to why. And if he was right, he probably wouldn't leave here to happy._

_He walked around a few corners, letting the waves of demonic chakra he felt guide him. He eventually walked into a large chamber, with a large cage on the other side, upon the bars a seal. He slowly walked over. He could make out a large toothy grin on the other side of the bars._

"_What do you want, fox?" he said rather shrewdly._

"_Geez, what kind of greeting is that? What if I just wanted to talk?" he replied, faking being hurt._

"_Yeah right, you've never wanted to talk before. What do you really want?"_

"_Well, honestly, I just wanted to talk."_

"_And why would I listen to anything you have to say?" Naruto said._

"_You know, kit, not all demons are bad." the fox suddenly said_

"_What?" Naruto replied, startled at the slight change in subject._

"_I said not all demons are bad. We don't just go around killing people. True, some demons are no better than animals, but that's because that's what we start out as. However, once we are sealed inside a human, things change."_

"_Like what?" he asked, genuinely interested._

"_Well, your human thoughts influence us, as much as we try to resist them at first. But in most cases, we demons actually develop a conscience. And that includes me."_

"_Where is this going?" he said with slight impatience._

"_Basically, once a demon has a conscience, even if they are somehow freed from their jinchuuriki, they retain that conscience."_

"_Why are you telling me this?"_

"_Because I'm going to help you." he said, getting to the point. "I'm going to teach you a new type of jutsu."_

"_Really," he said incredulously. "And what would that be?"_

"_There are the five main types, water, fire, wind, earth, and lightning. I'm going to teach you a different type. Demon Style."_

"_What!? Demon style?" he exclaimed._

"_Yes, I've had plenty of time while being sealed in here to study this seal. The Fourth was a very smart man, the way it lets my chakra leak out, and the way it reacts with your body, effectively makes you half-demon."_

"_I still don't get it. What does that have to do with demon style?"_

"_Demon style is a change in chakra nature that can only be used by demons. However, with this seal made by the 4th Hokage, which effectively makes you half-demon, I believe that you'll be able to use it as well. If you can, you will be the only human to be able to use demon style. Not even Kakashi could copy it."_

"_Sweet! Tell me more."_

"_Well, demon style actually has two kinds of change in chakra nature within itself. One kind can be added to any jutsu to make it stronger. The other can be utilized to use actual demon jutsu that can't be weakened by another jutsu."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Each of the five styles has a different style it works well against, and one it doesn't."_

"_Yeah." Naruto replied, this was very confusing._

"_Well demon style has no element that will weaken it, such as if it was fire against water. However, on the other side, there also isn't any style that it is can be used to defeat on the basis of element, such as if it was water against fire."_

"_How do I use each type?"_

"_It will do that automatically. If you use the "demon" hand sign, then continue to use another, non-demon jutsu it will simply make it more powerful. But there are a few demon-related handsigns that can be used to use strictly demon jutsu."_

"_Well, what's the demon handsign?"_

"_It looks like this," he said, making a handsign that involved very intricate weaving of fingers. "And one more thing."_

"_What now?"_

"_The amount of chakra and level of chakra control needed for demon style is enormous. At your current level of chakra control, I'd say you could make maybe five demon style shadow clones."_

"_What happens to the clones when I use demon style to create them?"_

"_I don't know. I've never used demon style to create clones."_

"_One more thing. There are other effects of being half-demon."_

"_Really, what are they?"_

"_I'm not gonna lie, not all of them will be good to start out with, but in the end, it will be for the better."_

"_That didn't answer my question."_

"_I'll tell you as they come up. For now just get back to your training."_

"_Hey fox," Naruto started as he began to leave._

"_What?"_

"_Thanks." he said quietly.

* * *

_

_Naruto was suddenly back underneath the tree. And he was aching to try out demon style. He got up and started to focus his chakra. He made a sign and said, "**Akuma: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."** Next to him on the ground appeared another Naruto, only he was unconscious. Naruto signed, this was gonna take a lot of training.

* * *

_

"So what do you think?" asked Jiraiya as soon as he was done with the story. He was extremely curious as to what her response would be

"I think this is insane." was her simple reply. She never know anything about demons having their own jutsu style. But then again, she had never fought against a demon herself.

Naruto arrived at the training grounds. It was still early and he was tired but he needed to do more training. He had progressed fast sense learning about demon style. But he still had a ways to go. However, he wanted to do a warm-up before really focusing on demon style.

"**Akuma: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**" he said simply. One clone appeared before him. For the time being his maximum number of clones with demon style was six. The fox hadn't been lying when he said that demon style took a lot of chakra and control. However he had figured out what demon style did to his clones. He slipped into a fighting stance, as did the clone. They suddenly charged at each other both dodging the other's attacks. Through fighting himself he had become more and more aware of his own weaknesses. And his clone displayed one as it provided an opening for him to aim a powerful kick into the gut of the clone, knocking him back several meters. Any onlooker would have been surprised to see the clone get up, seeing as clones disperse after taking a direct hit. Instead of getting dispersed after taking a hit like that, he simply stood up This was one of the benefits of the demon-style clones. It took several good his to disperse them, instead of just one. They started at each other again. This time it was longer before the clone allowed an opening. It attempted a punch to Naruto's face, but instead of simply dodging, Naruto did a backwards cartwheel, bringing his foot into his clone's chin. The clone tried to dodge but was slightly to slow, and was once again knocked back. This time Naruto didn't allow his clone to get back up. He jumped over to him and delivered a quick punch to the back of the head, finally dispersing the clone.

He was about to make another one to warm-up a little more until he heard somebody call his name.

"Naruto." came a familiar voice from behind him.

He turned around to find Sakura running up to him "Hello Sakura-chan. What is it."

She stopped quickly once she reached him. "Nothing really, I was just walking around town and thought I saw you from a ways away and came to see what you were doing. Who were you fighting?"

"Just one of my clones." he answered simply.

"But I thought clones dispersed after a good hit. You hit that person several times."

"I'll explain later. But were you doing anything right now?"

"I was actually just about to head to the academy. Today is the beginning of the school year and I wanted to see who the new recruits are."

"Really, that sounds like fun. Mind if I come with you?"

"Well that's what I was just going to ask you." she replied.

"Cool. Let's go." he said, putting his hands behind his head and starting to walk in the direction of the academy.

"Hey, wait up. I invited you, remember?"

* * *

The two arrived at the academy as the new students were lining up outside. They were getting ready to find out who their teachers were. Naruto looked around and spotted Iruka among them. He waved to him, and he walked over to talk to them.

"Naruto, Sakura. How are you guys?"

"Pretty good sensei. How about you?" Sakura answered.

"Pretty good, myself. Just getting ready for the next batch of young ninjas. I just hope there isn't one who's as good at pranks as you, Naruto."

"Are you saying I was a bad student?" Naruto asked with his trademark pout.

"_He's kind of cute when he pouts like that." _Sakura thought to herself.

"Well I'm certainly not going to say you were the most attentive in class. That would've probably been Sakura."

Sakura was jerked out of her thoughts by the mention of her name. But she realized Iruka was just mentioning what she was like when she was a student.

"Yeah, well that doesn't matter much anyway. I've still grown stronger." Naruto said in defiance.

"Yes, I heard you two took on Kakashi and won. Using unconventional means though." he said, inwardly laughing at Kakashi for falling for such a trick.

"Yeah, but you'd do the same thing if I used that jutsu on you."

"Really? And what jutsu was that. Kakashi only told me he lost, he didn't tell me how."

Naruto made the handsign and said, "**Harem no J**-"

He was stopped halfway through by Sakura punching him on the top of the head. "Where do you think you are? There are kids right over there!" she yelled at him.

Iruka had heard enough of the name though to guess what it was. However he quickly got the idea out of his head and laughed at his former student's antics. They may have grown stronger, but in many ways they were still the same.

"Well if you want to stay for the entrance ceremony that would be fine with me."

"That sounds like fun." Sakura said, changing the subject away from Naruto's jutsu.

"I just hope it doesn't take to long. I have to get back to my training." Naruto complained.

"Well it's starting right now." said Iruka as a speaker came out and started talking. He went on for a while about the ninja of Konoha and their code.

"Eh, this is going to take a while, isn't it?" he whined.

* * *

A couple hours later Sakura and Naruto were walking back to the training grounds. Sakura wanted to see how much training Naruto did. They eventually got there and Sakura sat down underneath a tree.

"What are you doing, Sakura-chan?"

"I thought first I'd see what kind of training you were going to do."

"Well after that long, boring speech I don't think I can focus enough to do any jutsu. I think I'll just do some working-out."

"**Oh, this is gonna be good."** said Inner Sakura.

"_Not now!_" she thought furiously. "How much are you going to do?'

"I don't know. Maybe just a couple hundred pushups, pullups and situps, then maybe a hundred or so handstand pushups just to make sure I get a good warmup." he looked back at Sakura, whose jaw went slightly slack when he mentioned that that was just a warmup. "What?" he asked innocently.

"Are you sure you can do that much? Especially just as a warmup?"

"Yeah it's easy, you just sit there and watch." he replied as he got down into the pushup position.

"**Hell yeah. Lets just watch him work up a sweat"** Inner Sakura said. Once again putting in her two-cents.

Naruto started doing his pushups with amazing speed, he was already at fifty.

* * *

Somewhere around 500 pushups, pullups, situps and about 150 handstand pushups later, she said about cause she lost count., Naruto jumped back to his feet. "Ah. Now I can really get started." he said, rotating his neck and shoulders.

"I don't think so." replied Sakura. "It's getting rather late. I'd say we just go home."

"Really?" he said as he looked around. "I guess it is getting kind of dark, my eyes must have adjusted." then he thought about something, "Hmm."

"What?" she asked with curiosity.

"Oh, nothing, just thinking about something else. Anyway if you want to go home now I suppose I could walk you home." he started out carefully. "That is, if you want me to."

"That would be fine." she replied, getting up from underneath the tree. They started to walk back towards the main section of town. They eventually went past the Yamanaka flower shop.

"Hold on." Naruto said simply as he ran into the store.

Sakura was left alone outside for a couple minutes. She didn't mind though. It was a nice evening. The stars were just starting to appear. It was the time of year when it got dark pretty early. But, while being distracted by the stars, she was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders and pushed against a wall. She struggled a little but the man pushed her shoulders against the wall with more force.

"Look what we got here, boys. A feisty one." the man growled.

And that was a little to much for her. She swept one of her feet sideways, hitting the man's foot and causing him to do the splits. He cried in pain then fell over to the side of her. One of the other men ran at her throwing a punch. She dodged and he hit the wall behind her, he yelped and grabbed his hand in pain. Sakura just smirked as she punched the ground. Several cracks appeared and in some areas the ground buckled up, which knocked over the remaining two people. They cringed in fear as she walked over to them. They closed their eyes as she reached towards them. She grabbed the back of their shirts two at a time and tossed them into an adjacent ally. Where they all scrambled to their feet and took off running. Not daring to look back.

She walked back to where she was standing in front of the flower shop She straightened her hair and clothes, then she brushed a little dirt of of her shoulder. It was at that time that Naruto came back out of the shop.

He noticed the ground and his jaw opened a little. "What happened?" he asked quickly.

"Oh, nothing. Oh! Those are beautiful!" she said noticing the assortment of five or so flowers in his hand.

"Well they're for you." he said as if it wasn't obvious. Still a little confused as to the appearance of the cracks in the ground.

"Thank you." she replied. She gave him a hug and then they started the rest of the walk back to her house. Their walk was in silence, but one again, enjoyed by both.

They arrived at her house and this time she felt no nervousness when she got to the door and turned around to give him a hug. The hug lasted a bit longer than the one the previous night he walked her home.

"_Wow he smells good."_ she thought as she relaxed and took a deep breath.

"_Her hair smells so wonderful."_ Naruto thought, as this was the closest thing to his nose.

Once again they parted the hug in a slow manner. Not wanting the moment to end to soon. Sakura said good night as she slowly stepped through the door and Naruto responded in kind, adding the childish line "don't let the bedbugs bite" and getting a small giggle out of her before the door completely closed.

* * *

AN:So how do you like Demon Style. There will be a lot in store for that. But don't worry, it won't become the ubber powerful ultimate weapon that destroys everything including the story. I don't know about you but when Naruto suddenly has some ubber powerful weapon the story loses something. Like he is no longer the underdog. And the Rasenshuriken isn't the type of thing I mean. More like some ultimate move you can do five times in five minutes no problem. That's annoying.

I also hate when people have Sakura get attacked by mere villagers and overpowered. You can probably tell this when she kicks their sorry asses. SHE'S A FREAKIN KUNOICHI PEOPLE! She can beat an Akatsuki member, I'm pretty sure she can overpower a few villagers

Anyway, if you love/like/don't care about/don't like/despise anything in the story, tell me. I will change it to your liking. Even if you are 1 out of 100 and don't like a specific thing, tell me and I will do my best to make you happy as well.

_**REVIEW**_ (please)


	7. Chapter 6: The Party

Sorry for the wait. My internet has been a little spazzy lately. Working, then not working, then working.

The following people have reviewed the last chapter so far:

Black Inferno: I'll try to lengthen it out but of course that means slightly more time in between chapters. I also hate when Sakura gets raped by villagers. They are just villagers and she is a kunoichi.

C-clip: While it is true that she had help and it was the weakest Akatsuki member there still is a large difference between that and some villagers. And as to Naruto's super-powerful weapon, I mean, yes he defeats other extremely powerful people, but he actually has to try. What I don't like is when they give him an amazingly ultra powerful jutsu, with no training, and that kills everybody just by looking at them or something like that. Like not even having to try. Then all the fight scenes, and among other things, are crap because they're one sided. I don't know about you, but I just think it takes a little away from the story.

Neno2002: So far all Naruto has trained to do is use the demonic jutsu to add to his normal jutsu. When he starts using full demonic jutsu then, yes, they will be very powerful. But not like everyone is a one-hit kill jutsu. If you've read the response above you can see my feelings about having to many "Ultimate-kill-everybody Jutsu"

Lord Nexus: I wasn't sure on what to put for the prefix on the demonic jutsu. Like most people I googled to find a translator. But that gave me five different words. I then found a site with a native speaker who had responded to one such question. He said "oni" was any spirit and "akuma" was a demon. However, if you would like me to change it, then message or review and I will put up a poll as to what word to use.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

_**Friendship, Love, and War**_

**Chapter 6: The Party**

Last time:

_They arrived at her house and this time she felt no nervousness when she got to the door and turned around to give him a hug. The hug lasted a little bit longer than the one the previous night he walked her home._

"Wow he smells good." _she though at she relaxed and took a deep breath._

"Her hair smells so wonderful."_ Naruto thought, as this was the closest thing to his nose._

_Once again they parted the hug in a slow manner. Not wanting the moment to end to soon. Sakura said good night as she slowly stepped through the door and Naruto responded in kind, adding the childish line "don't let the bedbugs bite" and getting a small giggle out of her before the door completely closed._

_

* * *

_

Naruto was on his way back home. Walking at a leisurely pace as he was rather happy at the moment. He was watching the stars as he walked. It was only when he almost ran into somebody running a late errand that he looked down. He could see everything fine. It didn't seem all that dark to him. That was when he remembered what he thought of earlier. And what he wanted to do. He wanted to talk to the fox.

* * *

Sakura walked up to her room rather slowly, taking both few and small steps. She was thinking about the hug with Naruto. He was so warm. His muscles were hard and toned but when he embraced her he relaxed and they became rather comfy in her mind, firm but soft, like a pillow. She wasn't sure yet but she thought she was starting to like Naruto as a little more than a friend. Sure, sometimes he was rather immature, but when it was just her and him he showed another side of himself. A more quiet, controlled, and compassionate side, which she greatly liked. And of course there was his body, she began to think as Inner Sakura whispered it in her ear. His arms, his chest, his abs.... Inner Sakura went on.

As Sakura was at the top of the stairs and on her way to her room, she was jerked out of her thoughts as her mother came out of her own room on her way to the bathroom.

"Sakura," she yawned. "Where were you." she said, not as if she were in trouble. When her daughter had become a ninja she became accustomed to her not always being home on time. However that didn't stop her from being curious.

"Oh, I was training with Naruto then he walked me home." she said airily as she continued to walk towards her room.

At this point, Sakura had passed her mother on her way to her bedroom, and didn't see her mother stop at the mention of Naruto's name. She turned around and saw her daughter walk into her room with a little bounce in her step. She shook her head, and went to the bathroom. But when she rejoined her husband, still asleep in the bed, she couldn't get to sleep right away.

"Naruto." she whispered very quietly. She knew that he was the container of the Kyuubi. When she heard about him as a baby, she was rather harsh with her thoughts, thinking, like many, that he may be the demon itself. Several years after that, however, when Sakura came home and complained about how much of a prankster he was in class she wasn't sure what to think. He sounded like a normal seven-year-old boy just wanting attention. And then he became a ninja and became well respected by the other ninjas of the village. Especially after he returned from that training trip Sakura said he'd been on. At that point her thoughts began to change. However she still had memories that haunted her from the Kyuubi attack many years ago. It was hard not to, with the amount of chaos. But now, it seemed, her daughter seemed to like the jinchuuriki as more than a mere friend, if the light air about her was anything to go by. She wanted to meet this boy in person. Then she could decide if he was truly a normal boy or not.

Eventually, her thoughts drifted away from Naruto and moved towards the town itself. Memories of her childhood. Turning into memories going shopping with her friends. Those happy memories of her life put her to sleep after a while. Long after she had come back to her room.

* * *

Naruto was sitting on his bed in the lotus position. His lights were out but strangely the moonlight shinning though the window was enough for him to see by. He began to meditate. Trying to enter the sewer that was his mind. And slowly, reality faded away into a dark sewer with water up to his ankles. He had grown accustomed to the pathway to the Kyuubi's cage. After learning about Demon style jutsu he had many questions for the fox. The Kyuubi was a harsh teacher, not giving any hints, no matter how much he whined or complained. He claimed that one needed to figure out their own way to use Demon jutsu. And once that way was figured out, growth would come faster than if he was given hints.

Naruto replied saying that all his teachers had said that, but they gave him hints anyway and he then grew faster then anybody's expectations. To which the Kyuubi responded by ignoring him.

He eventually arrived at the front of the cage. Even here, his eyes seemed to delve deeper into the dark. Normally only able to see the Kyuubi's eyes, he could see the entire face, which rested upon his paws. He was obviously sleeping.

"Hey fox." Naruto whispered. "Fox.... FOX!" he yelled.

The beast let out a large yawn. "Who the hell is waking me up at a time like- Oh, it's you kit. What do you want? You've never been in here at this hour before."

"I have a couple questions." he said, getting right to the point.

"About what? Demon Style? I've already told you. You need to-"

"No, that's not it. One time I was here a while ago you said something about other changes due to eventually being half-demon. What were they?"

"Why? Has anything changed?"

"My eyes are adjusting to the dark a lot faster than normal. I mean a _lot _ faster."

"Ah." he began understandingly. "So it's begun."

"What has?" Naruto asked curiously.

"You see kit, both humans and demons have puberty. Humans, because of their limited life span, start puberty around twelve or thirteen years old. Demons, on the other hand, have no fixed lifespan. As long as you don't get killed, you keep on living. Because of this demons start puberty closer to the age of eighteen or nineteen. You've had a late human puberty, and now are going through an early demonic puberty. Because of this you're starting to notice the main differences between being human and being half-demonic. One of the earliest has already started. Enhanced senses. You'll see better in the dark, hear fainter noises, and even feel differences in air pressure if an opponent almost gets you."

"What are some of the other things that might happen?" he asked. So far it was all good, he wanted to know if there was anything bad.

"Well, like I said not all of the things will be good at first. Some times your senses may get overwhelmed because they will suddenly flair for no reason. This will stop when the demonic puberty is over. But until then, when this happens, you may lose yourself and go on some sort of rampage. I say maybe because that's how it is with demons. I don't know about half-demons."

"That doesn't sound good." Naruto said plainly, thinking of the damage he could do. He didn't want to hurt any of his friends.

"A few other things may be things like healing faster, though you've already taken advantage of that, even more chakra than you already have. But the downside to that is it will be harder to control." the Kyuubi continued.

"How am I gonna stop myself from going on rampages and hurting people." Naruto said, more to himself then the fox.

"May I make a suggestion. Go see that Gaara friend of yours. He also has a bijuu so it is likely that he is becoming half-demon as well. If he's going through the same thing then it's be good for you two to have each other around, both for support and in case you get out of control."

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled. "That sounds great. I haven't seen him is a long time. Come to think of it, it was when he saved me from Kimimaro."

"Ok, if this discussion is over, I'd like to get back to sleep. So get out of here." he said in a stern way.

"Yeah, see you later Fox."

Naruto closed his eyes, and when he opened them he was in his room again. He almost thought that it was morning until he looked at the clock and saw that it was only 10:00. He was really going to have to get used to seeing so well in the dark. He stripped down to his underwear, and put on his sleeping cap, and went to sleep. He fell asleep almost right away thinking about Gaara and a trip to the sand.

* * *

Two men walked through a desert. One tall, one seeming to be hunched over. They were both wearing identical cloaks and hats. They walked at a slow pace, as if it made no difference as to when they got to their destination. Their trail in the sand being slowly worn away by the wind.

"Can we pick up the pace a little? You know I don't like to keep people waiting." said the one that was hunched over.

"We're in no hurry. Besides, he doesn't even know we're coming, so he's not waiting on us for anything."

The hunched-over one simply gave a defeated grunt, as if deciding that getting into an argument was worthless at this point. If it was anything like their arguments about art, then the taller one would just blatantly say that he was wrong. Besides, the other one did have a point.

* * *

Naruto awoke to the sound of a knock on his door. The thoughts of the night before and a trip to the sand reentered his head. For the time being, though, he would stay in the leaf and continue to train. He would have time later to go on a trip. But, of course, the most immediate thing that needed attended to was the knocking at his door. He got up, put on some shorts, and walked into the living room.

He opened the door slowly to find Shikamaru on the other side, facing the other way looking at the clouds out the end of the hall.. He rubbed the sleep out of his eye and managed to ask between yawns, "Hey, Shikamaru. What do you want."

"It's troublesome, but now that everybody from our class is back from missions, it seems their throwing a welcome-home party and it was decided that I was the one that had to come tell you. Neji, Lee, and Tenten are going to be there as well."

As he was still half asleep, it took Naruto a little while to understand what Shikamaru had just said. "Huh? A party? For me?"

"That's what I said." He didn't like having to repeat himself. It was, in his words, troublesome.

"Wow! When is it?" Naruto asked, extremely exited.

"Beats me."

Naruto face-planted the floor at that comment. He got back up and questioned, "What do you mean?"

"I mean I don't know. They just decided it last night when Hinata and her team got back. They don't have the entire thing planned out yet. They just said I had to come tell you."

"Well how am I supposed to know when it is? And why did they chose you?"

"I guess somebody will just come and get you when it's time for the party. As for choosing me, everybody else was either still asleep or helping plan it."

"Don't you have any clue as to when it will be?"

"I don't know. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, maybe even next week."

Naruto put on his trademark pout, "Ahh! The suspense is gonna kill me."

"Well why don't you just go train or something to get you mind off it. God, this is troublesome." mumbling the last part to himself.

"That's a great idea." Naruto said suddenly, changing his demeanor almost instantaneously. "See ya Shikamaru." he said before closing his door quickly.

"_Wow he changed his mind fast. Knowing him he probably has some new jutsu he wants to perfect and I just reminded him of it."_ Shikamaru thought before walking away.

* * *

And indeed, Naruto did have a jutsu he was working to perfect, though he was a far way from it. Ten minutes after his conversation with Shikamaru, he was sitting on a large rock in the middle of a moderate river meditating. He found it easier to use the Demon style if he meditated first to become more aware of his chakra.

He first concentrated on what was around him. The chirping birds, the sound of the water, and the smell carried on the wind. He heard a small mouse looking for food in a nearby bush. Then he started to focus more on himself, and what he sensed, effectively closing himself off from the world around him. He focused even more, the beating o f his heart, the expansion of his lungs when he breathed in, even the muscles around his stomach contracting as he digested his breakfast. He continued to focus even more on the flow of chakra, feeling the slow flow that was a result of being relaxed. While it took him far less time to get to this stage then when he first started meditating, it had still been at least half-an-hour sense he started before he got to focusing on his chakra.

As he focused more intently on his chakra, he began to focus it more to certain areas of his body. His hand, then his feet, then his head, then back to his hands. He also sped it up considerably while still keeping a meditative state, then slowed it down to a crawl. Very few people had this much chakra control. Unfortunately for Naruto, he only had this much control when meditating. When he wasn't meditating, his chakra control was ok at best. It would take a long time and a lot of meditating before he could manage this much control in a fight.

He finally reached the point where he could imagine every chakra path in his body, it had been roughly an hour. He brought more chakra out of his reserves, filling up the canals to what would be dangerous for any normal person. In response his body made more chakra to fill up the reserves. He increased the speed of the chakra to what it would be in a moderate fight, though not adding any more to the system.

He slowly brought up his hands into their most usual handsign.

"**Akuma: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." **he said slowly.

The chakra within the canals immediately dropped as ten clones popped into existence, but the canals immediately refilled with what was in his reserves, which, themselves, began to refill slowly as soon as they had been used. He had decided before beginning to meditate that, sense the most he had made so far was only six, he simply wasn't trying hard enough, and would go for ten, and so far it had worked. Most people would think of this as overdoing it but he knew no such phrase. He opened his eyes slowly and saw a circle of ten other Naruto's sitting around him on the river, with him in the center on the rock. They were all in the same meditative pose and state.

He slowly closed his eyes again and slowly pulled himself away from the meditative state, back away from just the chakra to more of himself, then what was around him. The clones did the same. When he was done he reopened his eyes as he and the clones stood up.

"Well, I think you know the drill. One on all." he said stepping into a fighting stance as the clones did the same.

* * *

Sakura had trouble finding Naruto. His party was ready and she had went to look for him. Shikamaru had said that he might have been training, so she first checked their usual training grounds, but when she got there it was empty of people. She was hoping he hadn't gotten overzealous and gone to the Forest of Death to fight some giant insects or some other boy-thing like that. She really didn't feel like searching for several hours through a large forest full of giant insects and such. She went from training ground to training ground attempting to find him, and was about to give up and tell the others they'd have to wait and do it next day. She wished Hinata or Neji had come to help look, they could have used their Byakuagan. It was then that she heard what sounded like an explosion a little ways off. She went towards it, having a feeling that there would be a hyperactive blond boy there who was totally overdoing it on his training.

Naruto had to admit that his clones were rather good. Of course, he thought rather cockily with a smirk on his face, they were clones of him, so they had to be good. But this was another example of how duplicates, while able to outnumber the original, would never be better than the original. He had already taken down four of them in one combo. Taking advantage of several openings to perform a seamless combo and disperse four at one after another. The combo ended with Naruto kicking one clone and soaring into the air, and while he would never have the grace of Neji or Hinata using their Juuken, he landed rather softly on the grass, immediately slipping back into his taijutsu stance.

Sakura had finally found him. But, upon seeing him, she stopped a ways away in the bushes, opting to watch him finish his battle with the other Narutos. She was not to very far away and could see almost every detail of the fight.

The clones all put a little smirk on their face, they had a plan. But unknown to them, Naruto knew their plan. This was because they had formulated it just before he had dispersed the last clone. But... he decided to humor them.

Sakura watched as the clones suddenly disappeared, reappearing underneath the real Naruto. She gasped as on of them landed a kick into his stomach. Launching him upwards.

"U-"

"Zu-"

"Ma-"

"Ki." came the calls of the clones as they hit Naruto ever higher into the air.

The last clone appeared above Naruto with his leg outstretched, ready to hit the real Naruto in the back of the head and down into the ground. This was when a smile played across Naruto's lips. He curled up quickly, causing him to do a front flip in the air. He then stretched out his legs halfway through the flip. He continued to spin, using his legs for his counter-attack One hit the clone's leg, causing the clone to flip forward and face the ground in the same way that the real Naruto had been seconds earlier. His other leg swung quickly around to hit his clone in the back of the head in the same way the clone had planned to hit him.

"Naruto Barrage!" the real Naruto shouted as he sent the clone careening into the shocked faces of the clones on the ground. As the clone hit, it caused a large plume of dust to appear as all the clones were dispersed, leaving only a small creator in the ground where he hit. He landed and looked around at the grounds. There were a few creators and cracks, but nothing major.

"Wow, Naruto! That was amazing!" Sakura said as she came out of the bushes.

Naruto had been too engrossed in his fight to think about other people watching. So when Sakura was suddenly talking to him, it caused him to jump a little, getting a small giggle out of Sakura.

"Sakura! When did you get here?" he asked after his little shock.

"A few minutes ago. But, Naruto. That was amazing. How did you get the clones to take more blows before dispersing?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Well.... That's a long story. I can tell you later if you want me to." he said a little hopeful that she might want to hang out with him.

The comment made Sakura realize why she came to get Naruto in the first place. "Oh yeah! Your party's ready. If you want to get washed up then come to Hinata's place. Her dad said we could use one of the small houses in the complex to throw the party."

"That would be awesome! I'll be there in about thirty minutes." he said, overcome with excitement at getting his own party.

"Okay. See you there." she called as they began to walk their separate ways. Him towards his house and her towards the Hyuuga complex to make sure there weren't any last minute things to be taken care of.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later and Naruto was home and had already taken a quick shower. He was looking through his clothes. He wasn't sure what to wear to a party, seeing as he had never been to one. He eventually decided that his normal outfit would do fine, as it was just him and his friends.

He left via the window, and headed towards the Hyuuga complex. It wasn't long before he got there. He went through the main gate when he realized Sakura hadn't told him what house the party was in or how to get to it. He looked around for signs of people, when he found none he decided he might just have to ask. He walked up to what looked like the main house. He knocked and heard footsteps coming towards the door. When the door opened he saw the imposing image of who could only be Hinata's father. He was a tall man, with an air of confidence about him. But when he saw who was at his door, his expression softened slightly. He seemed to know why Naruto was here.

"I see they didn't tell you what house it was in. Well I guess I'll have to show you to it." he said generously.

Naruto was a little shocked at just how nice he was. Being the head of a very highly esteemed clan, he imagined him to be a little more uptight. But he managed to get out a polite thanks as he stepped out of the way to Hiashi through to show him the way.

The first bit of the walk was in silence until Hiashi asked, "So.... How was your trip?"

Naruto was shocked at the question because he hadn't expected a conversation. "It was really nice." he finally managed to get out after recovering himself. "I learned a lot of stuff."

"What sort of stuff?" the man continued.

"Well, mostly about chakra control, seeing as that's my biggest weak point." he explained.

"Maybe Hinata or Neji could help you with that." he said seriously. They stopped in front of a moderate one story house, complete with a porch. "Well, here we are. Everybody's inside waiting. Have fun." he ended, walking back towards the main home.

Naruto was once again surprised at the Hyuuga. Both at the advice for his training, and the informal way they talked, as if they were friends. He cleared his head and walked in.

Everybody from his class and Team Guy was sitting in the living room to the left talking. It was a large living room, with two very long couches facing each other one either side of a coffee table, several chairs around one end of the coffee table, and a large television on the other end. It was connected to the kitchen on the right which was complete with oven, microwave, and fridge, which he would later find out was stocked with drinks. On the table were many different party foods and dips, all looking very appetizing, and last there was a door where the two rooms connected, which he guessed led to a bedroom and bathroom. He noted that everybody was just wearing normal clothes, so his choice of clothing was appropriate. He also noticed the large "Welcome Home" banner hanging in the middle of the two rooms.

When he entered everybody turned their heads to see who had come in. Kiba was the first to speak, saying, "There's the reason we're all here." in a loud, boyish voice.

Naruto simply smiled, as did everybody else. He was told where the bathroom was and what kind of drinks and food there was. Once everybody had gotten some food and drinks and had sat down, everybody preceded to ask questions about his trip. After about the fifth one he simply decided to tell a story about his trip form the time he left to the time he got back. Covering the main and most interesting parts. After his story was over, he answered several more questions before it was his turn to question them about what had happened in Konoha. Eventually everybody was out of questions and had began to talk in smaller groups, pretty much girls and guys. Somebody then had the idea to watch a movie, which everybody agreed to. They all got more food and picked a spot either on a couch or in a chair. Naruto sat at the end of one couch and Sakura picked the spot next to him before anybody else could.

They turned out the lights and started the movie. About halfway through Sakura leaned against Naruto, resting her head on his shoulder. Most of them noticed, but none called attention to it. And eventually the movie was over and it was getting late enough that everybody decided to head home. Most left one at a time, but eventually there were just a few people left including Naruto and Sakura. They both headed towards the door and left together. Both already knew that Naruto was walking her home.

"Hey, do you want to stop somewhere to eat before you go home? Anywhere you want." Naruto suggested.

"Hmm.... Anywhere I want.... How about somewhere simple. Lets go to Ichiraku's. I haven't had ramen in a while." she suggested, surprising Naruto, who just smiled as they changed course to the ramen stand.

When they finally got there, had ordered, and had gotten their food, Naruto ate in a slow, dignified manner. Like a normal person if you put it bluntly. Sakura noticed this and realized, once again, how much he had changed. And soon they were done, Naruto had paid. and they were on their way.

When they arrived at her house it was getting close to ten-o-clock. They walked up to the door and Naruto hesitated. "Umm.... So, was this a date?" he asked hopefully.

"I don't know," she said, teasing him, "What do you think?"

Then an idea popped into Naruto's head, one he had not expected, and one he was suddenly set on. He said slowly, "Well, I know a way to tell for sure."

This made her curious. "And what would that be?" she questioned.

Her heart skipped a beat as he stepped to closer. He was looking at her directly in her eyes. She wasn't sure why but she suddenly found herself leaning in towards Naruto and closing her eyes, as he closed his. Their lips met, and both of them were filled with pleasure, the warmth of the other's lips. They parted slowly and only to a couple centimeters away. Then once again, Naruto had an urge and he would later learn it had something to do with being demonic.

He leaned back in for another kiss and Sakura met him willingly. But this time, after a couple seconds, he tilted his head, deepening the kiss. This surprised Sakura, but so far, she wasn't gonna complain. He put his arms around Sakura's waist as she wrapped hers around his neck. The kiss started slow, filled with compassion. He slowly let his tongue slip between his lips and touch hers. She felt it, and, before she knew it, had slowly opened her mouth. She was surprised at herself. But being with Naruto like this felt so good. Inner Sakura had already passed out.

His tongue found its way into her mouth and ran along her teeth before starting to massage her own tongue, roaming he mouth. She was in heaven, the pleasure she was getting form this boy was amazing!

Naruto took a step towards her and she responded by taking a step back. He pushed her back against the door as he held her hips. It was at this point that she decided she would not always be the passive one. Using her tongue, she moved around his and into his mouth, where she did the same thing he did to her already.

She then put one of her feet on the door and jumped up, wrapping her legs around Naruto's waist so he was holding her above him, all the while keeping her arms about his neck and continuing the kiss. This surprised him greatly, but having her in command had some strange appeal to him. Her head was above his now, as he was holding her with her legs about his waist and her arms around his neck. She used this to her advantage as she took command of the kiss, causing it to grow more intense. She released her arms and moved them into his hair. She moved her hands around in his hair, it was so soft. One of his arms, both of which had previously been around her waist moved down as the other held her full weight. It slid down until it was placed firmly on her rear end. Once it was there, it held her weight as the other came to meet it. There kiss continuing all the time.

Eventually, Sakura's legs got tired as she started to slip back down. Naruto sensed this and moved his arms back around her waist to support her. She stood in front of him once again, their lips still together. It was a this time that both of them ran out of breath, and the kiss ended slowly. They backed their faces a few centimeters away from each others. Then they both blushed furiously as they realized what they just did. But they still remained in each others arms.

"I'm sorr-"

"No," she interrupted, "You shouldn't be. If I didn't want to do that I would've stopped you. Besides, you were amazing!"

He still looked a little worried, but then Sakura gave him a quick peck on the lips to ensure he knew that everything was fine. "You were amazing." she said again.

"So were you." he replied. And they both smiled small smiles.

Although they could both tell that the other wanted to stay in their arms longer, they both knew it was getting late, and they needed to part. They did slowly, and after she turned around and opened the door, Sakura opened her door, she turned around and gave Naruto one last peck on the cheek. She then closed the door slowly, watching him as he smiled, said goodnight, and started to walk away, watching her out of the corner of his eye in the doorway as she closed the door.

After she had closed the door she walked to her room. It was only after changing and already laying in her bed did her actions really come to her. The momentary shock at what she had done went away very quickly. Both her and Naruto had acted, therefore, both of them seemed to have feelings for the other. For Naruto, he already knew of his feelings. But as for Sakura, she was still discovering them. And the kiss that night had helped her a lot in finding out her true feelings toward the blond ninja.

* * *

AN: WHOOOOOOOOO!!!!! That was tough. I said I'd try to lengthen it out and I did! (5539 words not including author's notes!)

How did you like the ending? I hope this chapter was up to your expectations or better.

Now remember- **Review... ****review... ****review... ****review... ****review... ** (supposed to be an echo)


	8. Notice

Sorry to all the people who thought "Oh sweet an update on this story" just to find out it was another notice. But this one has to do with the story.

Anywho, I'm in the process of writing chapter 7 and I will say it's coming along nicely.

But I read back through my own story to make sure I haven't forgotten anything (sad, I know) and in the process I found out that the chapters I have so far, in the areas of descriptions and writing style, SUCK. You may not think they do, but as I read them I was revising ever other sentence in my head and it sounded a whole lot better. So I got the idea of revising them and reposting them.

I would not change anything that happens, just rewrite it with more detail and descriptions, making it better and easier to read. You know, with a better flow to it.

Of course this will take time. And the first thing on my list is to get the next chapter done. But after that I would really like to redo the other chapters. Which leads to my two ideas. The first being, I finish the next chapter, then revise all previous chapters, then move on with the story. The second idea is to finish the next chapter, then do a back-and-forth, doing a new chapter, then revising one, then making a new one, then revising another one.

Out of my two ideas I prefer my first. No matter what I can promise that the chapters I revise will be much better, but I think they will be even better if I go in order. Crazy idea right?! (hope you realized that that was sarcasm). This is what I will be doing if nobody answers me.

However, if enough of you review, and prefer the second idea, I may just do that one instead, but I won't promise anything. Even as I right this I continue to like my first idea more and more. Still, I want the readers to be happy. So review with which you would prefer.

It doesn't matter how long the review is. You can simply put 1 or 2. Or something that lets me know. Like if you put "back-and-forth" or "redo all at once"

Thanks for your support. I will now go back to working on the next chapter.


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